monthly

/ˈmʌnθli/

//ˈmʌnθli// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"monthly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“monthly” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,010. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,010
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Occurring every month.

Corpus desk

Index EN-monthly · monthly · English

monthly · rank #3,010 · 12 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,010
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Miller

Nearest frequency peer: Miller (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “monthly”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “monthly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

monthly vs Monty
57% similar
monthly vs months
71% similar
monthly vs mostly
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for monthly
PropertyValue
Headwordmonthly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈmʌnθli/
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,010
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “monthly”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).monthlylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Miller” (#3,009), “mountains” (#3,011), “memories” (#3,008). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “monthly” is #3,010. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around monthly (IPA /ˈmʌnθli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #3,010 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Occurring every month.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for monthly, with forms such as "mmonthly", "mnothly", and "monhtly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Monty", "months", "mostly", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From month + -ly (adjectival suffix), perhaps via Middle English *monethly (attested only adverbially), from Old English mōnaþlīċ (“monthly”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz (“monthly”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mo… The correct English form is monthly, spelled M-O-N-T-H-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Occurring every month.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how monthly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It's time give the dog its monthly bath.
  2. all of these services, including mSpy, function with the same kind of predatory subscription scheme, luring you in with free trials that autorenew as abhorrently expensive monthly or yearly subscriptions. canceling the service requires reaching out to support, so users are typically unable to avoid overrunning the trial.

Etymology

From month + -ly (adjectival suffix), perhaps via Middle English *monethly (attested only adverbially), from Old English mōnaþlīċ (“monthly”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz (“monthly”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian moundelk (“monthly”), German monatlich (“monthly”), Danish månedlig (“monthly”), Swedish månatlig (“monthly”), Norwegian Bokmål månedlig (“monthly”), Icelandic mánaðarlegur (“monthly”).

This word in other languages

mensual(Español)mensuel(Français)monatlich(Deutsch)mensal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmonthly
  • mnothly
  • monhtly
  • monnthly
  • monthhly
  • monthlly
  • monthlyy
  • monthyl
  • montlhy
  • montthly
  • motnhly
  • omnthly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of monthly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

mmonthly1mnothly2monhtly2monnthly1monthhly1monthlly1monthlyy1monthyl2
Edit distance from "monthly"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "monthly"?
"monthly" is spelled M-O-N-T-H-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmʌnθli/.
What does "monthly" mean?
As an adjective, "monthly" means: Occurring every month.
What words are commonly confused with "monthly"?
"monthly" is commonly confused with "Monty", "months", "mostly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "monthly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "monthly" is /ˈmʌnθli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "monthly"?
From month + -ly (adjectival suffix), perhaps via Middle English *monethly (attested only adverbially), from Old English mōnaþlīċ (“monthly”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz (“monthly”). Cognate with Saterland ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "monthly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

operate#3,013Islands#3,004hanging#3,002founded#2,997

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

shoulder12 variantsstations12 variantsdocument12 variantsvaluable12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list